The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-04-20


cents at which price MI. Fostor took them: y
quantity OF stolen tobacco was found in Lip
sconb Il :RussclrS store. They also bonSh
from Caldwell nN much the same representa-
tionS, he claiming to be the agent of the man
ufacturer, with special facilities Tor getting
low rates. All these goods were handed owe
to the railroad authorities and stored In
warehouse.
about s. GOO in value and the thieves were get
ting rich very fast. The rohbericS have beer
going on since November. IT Is believed mos
of the stolen goods were sold outside the city
GreenviRc .Ne,os, Apru 1871.
Probably nothing that has happened in th
history of Grccnvillc has stirrci the city s'
completely and interested IT. so thoroughly a
the discoveries and arrests in connectIon VII.
the robbcrics of the Richmond q nnnVill'
freight trains All day yesterday little els'
was talked about when men met.
When the GrccnriHe Ners men began u
pick up the case again Yesterday niorilnt
they ran into perfect whirlwind OF rumo
and gossip. Everybody knew more about
than anybody else and WAS ready to Volnn
tcer or yield to gentle pumping remarkn
bic fund of Information involving nySterl
Gus arrests the Implication of scores ofpeo
pie and general upheaval and sensation
Later in the day the thing had become Joke
and by night most Of the jokes were cncst
nuts. They consisted generally OF waking
into a friends establishment and asking him
what the detectives had got from him; OF
where his Caldwell goods were hid or how
much bail he had given; or enduring II the
etc, About the guard house there was shit
ing crowd nearly all day and idle men stood
sIlerc hours at time, swapping gossip Win
all comers and staring ut the building an;
the police, one yielding abont as mucn u
sratify curiosity as the other. .
AS will he remembered, John Caldwell
white, and Joe Harris and William Frone
berger, colored, were arrested on SATURDAY
.l..t Il n.
warrant was issued. escaped. Yesterday
morning Detective Feilers, his assistant Johr
Hiilhouse, Chief Of Police Kennedy and ON
Ger Schaphacll, with a volunteer or two, wen
IN another raid with anolhef batch Oh war
rarts.
George Johnson, young white man anG
brothcr-in-law OF John Caldwell, was arrestec
at his house near the Richmond Danvillt
where Caldwell lived, and locked up.
The next haul was certainly a big flsh IN
physicalsbulk andls said to be biggest one
in the case. 1t was J. G. Griffin, who has
to Keith & Co., Of Cincinnati that wintered
ut the fair grounds. His bulky figure Is IA
miiiar on the streets here, where he general
appeared driving spirited horse TO llsn
porous sporting man, sack coat being
generally closely buttoned about his very
large body. He and his men and horses have
been almost the only occupants OF me iail
G. d. Moore, q young white man who keeps
a small store ut the fork of Rutherford ant
Buncombe streets, was the next victim; HI
was brought in handcuffed, like all the
Harry Leman, well-known young white
Jockey who has been employed by Gri fin II
the stables at the fair grounds, was also ar
rested and brought in.
but he was released later in the day as it wa'
found he was not the man wanted.
There was activity In other directions. F1vt
caddies of the tobacco taken from the tia!I
on Saturday night were found on Sunday
above the depot near Johnson's brick yard
Moorc's arrest was caused by the fact tha
when he was visited late on Saturday even
ing lie turned over to Detective Fellers twelve
bales of plaidS. stating that they were all tnt
goods in his possession that he had any real
son to believe were the property OF the rail
road. Mr. Fellers had good reason TO know
better. however. and when he returned yester
warrant and u warrant ofurrest against Moore
for buying stolen goods. A search resulted IN
the discovery Of II sack of parched coffee
several boxes of cigars ana cheroot, ana a
having been taken from the Richmodd anc
Danville through freight cars.
The detective had reason to believe that
Mark & Endel had bought a quantity OF the
stolen goods and went 10 them. The mem
berS of that firm answered promptly that they
had bought goods of Caldwell and held his
bill and receipt for them, and gave the brand:
of tho cloth, etc; they had bought. Mr.. Wal
was unable to identify these goods rs having
been stolen from the railrQad but tclegraphed
for in formation. Mark Il Endel say Caldwell
brought them samples and offered the goods
ut about market prices with discount FOL
cash. Mr. Mark drove to Caldwelfs house
and inspected the goods, bought them to the
amount of SlS7 80 and they were delivered and
paid for In broad daylight, an Invoice and re
ccipt being given. The invoice Is maze oui
- G,l,,, 'nl 1tEnn md Inf
March eSt, 1857. Most Of these goods have
been sold or mixed in with other stock in the
course Of business.
About twenty bolts of plaids were found in
the store of B. NJ. Mc(ire, West Greenvillc
There is no possible doubt That these goods
were bought ''straight." and in open market
Mr.. McGee having purchased them Of Lips
comb Il Russell who bought them OF Caid-
well. Not even the charge of carc!eSsnesS
can he made against Mr.. McGce.
Detective FCllers says his case is now fully
worked and complete. There are more dcvel'
opinenis to come. he says bat they Will come
gradually rs there is now no occasion fol
hurry. lie said. when asked If any comics
sions had been made. that hc talked very lit
tie with the prisoners and made no effort t.
induce them to confess as he had his case IN
good shape without having to 30 to the jail
jailfor evidence. He added that he had been
materially helped by the boldnesS of some Of
the eprisoners-probably referring to Caldwell
who had approached honest anu acute men
clon and furnish evidence which Is now being
voluntaiily ly.offered for the use of the State:
Mr. Fcllers would not say so, but there Is good
reason to believe that there has been some
leaking som ewhere among the accused since
yesterday morning. The officers have salts.
fled expression which confirms their state.
ment that they are inside the whole business
and know its head and tail and All It's rani.
he was prepared fIrthc first long and sound
sleep lie had had III some time and would
take it easy; he thought he had his men
where he wanted them and rs for the goods
they were located along with the quantity
sold and the dates delivered and he could
make the holders account FOR every piece OF
them, SO that he could take his time collect
ing them. Without doubt many OF them are
in the country around here. \ representa-
tive of the NcWs heard of them in several
places on yesterday and Detective Fellcrs
probably has similar Inflammation.
The officers seem To doubt very much If any
railroad men are in tile job and say IL would
have been easy for smart thieves to work II
without such assistance. They were proba-
bly, smarter than they knew as they had met
and neutraliZed the usual system OfguaTding,
scaling, checking and reSealing freight cars
and much time was lost while Mr.. FellcrS was
getting into operation new system or his
his own whereby freight In through cars was
examined and checked here instead OF ut its
destination. BY this system, however, the
detective knew the very day an article was
lost, and where 1t disappeared, and when,
Greenviile two ends Of the string were in
hand. 1t was known where the things were
stolen and where They went; then there only
remained to fill in the details of handling,
hauling and storage and the persons doing
that work Much time and patience were de-
voted to these matters and 1t Is likely the
criminals will be astonished when the time
comes to know how often the watchful eye OF
the law was actually on them and how many
times the hnd of the law impending over
them was stayed to await further devel-
opments."
AS has already been stated, the case was
not quite rs ripe as il was wanted on Satur-
day, butit was sprung because the officers
one of their watching expeditions stumbled
into n nest and feared the alarm would spread.
with the tobacco was lost on Friday night.
The truth was the officers felt sure 1t had
turned from the lane into the fair grounds
and In following to see where 1t went on It's
return ran almost on 1t. Then II was that
hoy turnpl and ncroSS the fields hODinp